Love Washes Fatigue Away
by KarineNachigeru
Summary: CoWritten with Cruel EffluviumS. Sometimes a little bath time distraction was a welcomed occurrence.


"_Love Washes Fatigue Away"_

He never really cared for colder weather all that much, as it reminded him of his name's origins and thus the circumstances surrounding his beginnings, but it didn't bother him a whole lot either; especially nowadays when such wonderful things came from weather like this. Only once in a blue moon, or when his lover allowed it, did Nowaki get to share a bath or shower with Hiroki, who usually was against it because it was both embarrassing and the older man preferred to get it done and over with quickly...which wouldn't happen if Nowaki was apart of it. However, these really chilly days gave him something to look forward to, such as the professor, as he was doing right at the moment, mumbling that he wanted him to join him for his bath...only because it was so cold and his presence would keep him warm.

Nowaki thought it was beyond adorable that Hiroki was saying this was the only reason. He should've known better than to think the doctor would believe that...but nevertheless it was cute to watch him try and convince him that it was the truth. Before his lover went and made himself more abashed than he already was with the whole thing, Nowaki placed a comforting hand against the older man's shoulder and smiled in his usual way, although a bit more happiness than normal was present in his expression. "If you really want me to join you I will," he said simply, enjoying the way his lover's cheeks and ears became tinted red.

'Could've fooled me' he though agitatedly taking in his lover shirtless appearance and noting his own still cloth clad state. 'Almost like that bastard knew I'd ask..' he grumbled mentally, hating just how easily Nowaki seem to be able to predict his needs.

"Fine you will join me, but only to keep me warm. No funny business, you got that?" Hiroki said with his arms crossed and lack luster glare in his eyes a small pout on his face and an embarrassed waver in his voice. Even as he spoke them he knew his words were false. He was all to well aware that if Nowaki really did try something then he would be utterly swept away by this man once again. And still a small little part of himself couldn't help but be happy at the situation. Nowaki was the only one he'd ever allow himself to be so intimate and open with. This man truly was the only one for him, and even as his cheeks colored themselves a deep scarlet from the thoughts a small smile had snuck its way to replace the pout on his face as he began to absent mindedly unbutton his shirt.

Nowaki almost let out an elated sound when he saw Hiroki's mouth curve into that beautiful, slight smile that he loved so much, but somehow, probably thanks to his relaxed personality was able to resist. Just barely, however. Slipping his arms around his lover's neck to gently hug him against his chest from behind, the midnight-haired doctor nuzzled the side of Hiroki's head with a contented sigh and reassured the man with, "Don't worry, Hiro-san, I'll behave and make sure to keep you nice and warm~" The coo in his voice wasn't particularly convincing, but he really meant it...at least, he'd try anyway; if Hiroki was a bit too cute for him to stand he might have to let himself slip up, and just accept the consequences later. It'd be worth it, he surmised.

Hiroki's cheeks colored, in that embarrassing manner that he most despised, as a result of Nowaki's sudden close proximity. And as much as he felt he should be making some sort of fuss about the unwarranted action, he just couldn't bring himself to do anything. That is except bring both his hands up to grasp Nowakis arms and bury his head unto them a little. Relishing for the moment in this happiness he felt. The moment did not last as long as he would have wished however as a yawn slipped from his lips and he had to bring one of his hand to his mouth to stifle it. "Mmm sorry long day at work…' he apologized through the yawn, his eyes slightly dropping with obvious fatigue.

The corners of Nowaki's eyes crinkled a little as he smiled warmly down at the man he loved, shaking his head ever so slightly. "No need to apologize," he said reassuringly, hugging the man somewhat. "Let's get you all warm and cleaned up so we can get to bed." After the display of fatigue from Hiroki, Nowaki told himself that he really would try to contain himself that much more, wanting nothing more than the well-being of his beloved; keeping himself in check was worth it if it meant Hiroki got a good night's sleep and kept warm all throughout.

Hiroki just gave a small nod as his silent response as they got into the tub. In reality he had hopped he would be seduced by the other man, as seemed to be the norm or situations like this. But his body had to go and betray him like that, being exhausted shouldn't really be an excuse. Yet there was little he could do now to rectify the situation save just relax, enjoy his time with his beloved Nowaki, and sleep well and soundly beside the aforementioned man. 'Mmm he's so tall…makes e feel like the kid in th relationship sometimes…'he thought dreamily, leaning back against the mans chest and just taking in the moment, his eyes half lidded with content and sleepiness.

Taking into account how compliant Hiroki was being with him holding him like this, his chest bare and everything, Nowaki knew his lover was indeed more tired than usual, and couldn't help the warmness to his expression; he felt so good, so useful, during times like this. Like he was being allowed to take care of the older man, something Hiroki rarely ever allowed unless absolutely necessary or just spur of the moment. Without any cue needed, the taller man led the two of them into the bathroom, letting go of Hiroki so that he could start getting the bath ready for the two of them; when he turned his attention back to the other and saw that he hadn't even undressed he thought of an opportunity to get the other to wake up just a little bit so that he wouldn't fall asleep the moment he slipped into the hot himself of his pants and boxers and tossing them into the hamper, Nowaki sat on the stool in front of the rinsing area, beside Hiroki, and smiled innocently at his lover. "Hiro-san," he began sweetly, "Would you wash my back for me please? I'll do the same for you when you're done."

"Huh, oh yeah, Sure…" Hiroki blinked into awareness as he arose from his half sleep. Yawning as he rose and strode over to Nowaki, Hiroki found himself having a hard time trying not to stare to openly at his lovers body. Somewhere in-between his half sleep and his Nowaki watching Hiroki had somehow managed to forget to finish undressing and so he ended up striding into the bath with his boxers and half buttoned dress shirt still on. His current state of dress went unnoticed by him however as he bgan to clean his lover's well sculpted back. 'Stupid Nowaki, how is he so damn big anyway?' Hiroki thought irritated, but with fondness in his eyes. As much as he hated being the shorter of the two, especially when he was the older, and despite how much he acted bothered by it, he would never change it. He adored Nowaki just as he was, height and all, though he never willing admit it. "Ahhmm syour turn Nowaki" he stated as he stifled yet another yawn, and in the process managed to rub some suds onto his cheek.

As he turned around to get started on cleaning his lover's back, and maybe a little more than that if he could sneak it in, Nowaki almost burst into laughter at what he saw; he hadn't expected Hiroki to be /so/ tired that he completely forgot the part about taking off one's clothes when getting into the bath. Smiling in an utterly adoring fashion at the smaller man, Nowaki shifted so that he could lead Hiroki out of the tub and sit on a wash stool. The man needed to get himself properly prepared for the bath first, and Nowaki knew him well enough to figure that he'd remember his behavior in the morning and be embarrassed by it, so he wanted to make it as painless as possible."Hiro-san," he began sweetly, handing him the shower head, "you need to take your clothes off and rinse off before I can wash your back." When his lover gave him an almost confused, tired, and completely too cute expression for Nowaki to stand, the doctor decided it was time to wake the man up a little and leaned over the edge of the bath, grabbing either side of Hiroki's face gently to land him with a pretty deep kiss. He smiled deeply as he pulled away, saying, "There, now Hiro-san can get properly clean," referring to the much more aware look on his lover's face now.

One moment Hiroki was in the bath, the next his lover was leading headway to the stool and saying something. Something his sleep fogged mind was unable to make out at the moment, which in turn brought an perplexed expression to his features. And then before he had even registered that Nowaki had moved, his lovers lips were on his own and he was being swept away once again. When Nowaki pulled back, Hiroki was left a bit red in the face and a bit breathless. Slowly he lowered his head to recompose himself and made a discovery. H e was still partially clothed, how utterly mortifying. This must have been what Nowaki was trying to tell him before, and why he brought him out to the stool. 'Gaa..I'm never going to be able to live this one down.' he mentally whined. 'Ah well, was worth it a bit I think..' he added his gaze returning to Nowaki's own loving one. He took a breath to clear his thoughts and stood, gradually, albeit lazily beginning to remove the remains of his clothing.

Nowaki wanted to tease his lover, maybe say something like 'that's a good boy', but he kept his mouth shut; he wasn't one for teasing, as much as it would've really been fun at that moment to do so. It was kind of hard not to, when Hiroki had given him such lovely material to do it with...but Nowaki reminded himself he wasn't Professor Miyagi, or that Akihiko guy, so messing with his lover wasn't something he would do. But damn was it tempting. Continuing to smile sweetly at Hiroki, he awaited the man to finish undressing so he could scrub him clean, also reminding himself to keep his hands from straying to places they didn't belong...but damn would that be tempting too. Bathes of this sort (an innocent sort that is) were harder than he thought.

A half scowl formed on Hiroki's face as he narrowed his eyes at his lover. "Your thinking of mocking me aren't you?" he accused in a knowing way, arms crossed and a pout on his face. Attempting to look intimidating, but failing quite miserably. Instead he subconsciously came off as sexy, sultry almost. Being that he was stark naked and had his arms crossed, hair and body slightly damp, and dripping from their earlier escapade in the bath. It may have been an innocent enough gesture, but somehow it just didn't seem to be reading that way at all. This 'innocent bath' just might have trouble staying that way if he kept this up.

The observations that Hiroki was failing to make about his own posture were not lost on Nowaki, the younger man trying, hard as he might, not to have his eyes take in the rather attractive sight in an obvious way; boy was it hard to simply keep his eyes on Hiroki's face. Deciding it best to cover up what was being so readily displayed, the doctor reached out and encircled an arm around his lover's waist, bringing him over to the bathtub and dragging him in with a chuckle as the water splashed a bit and tickled his cheek. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Hiro-san," he lied in a blatant way, smiling almost from ear to ear now that he had the other man against him in the warm water.

Hiroki let out a surprise squeak as he was suddenly dragged into the tub. As they settled into the water and Nowaki made his remark in regard to the earlier exchange between the two he couldn't help but to add "Somehow I sincerely doubt that..." in reply as he slowly sank down into the water. Only stopping when the lower half of his face had been submerged, his head leaning back and coming to rest atop Nowaki's stomach.

"Smiling so much he only had a very minor concern that it may stick that way, Nowaki glanced over Hiroki very slowly, in a contemplative sort of way; if he'd been any other man he might've been thinking about where to touch first, but he was, well, /him/ and when he decided to keep things innocent for his lover's sake he worked hard to do so. This 'examination', as it were, was merely him determining how to get his lover clean, and where to start. Squirting some shampoo into the palm of his hand, he decided to start with the man's hair and pleasantly hummed to himself as he did so, finding it rather cute how Hiroki was practically hiding in the water.

For a few countless moments Hiroki merely enjoyed the feel of it all. The comforting effect of having his lover so near him and the way the warm water was soothing all his muscle. "Ahhhh…feels nice.." he sighed out, causing a few water bubbles to form as his eyes began closing to bask in the feel of it all. He stayed that was for a few moments, before sleep began to tug at his consciousness and just when he was afraid he might sub come to its lure he was gently coaxed back into awareness as he felt larger, gentle hand begin to massage and clean his scalp. "Hmm…" he mumbled enjoying this situation an incredible amount.

Leaning forward a bit so that he could whisper into Hiroki's ear, Nowaki continued to lather the shampoo into his lover's hair as he said, without a lick of embarrassment in his voice, "Hiro-san, I love you." For some reason, call it 'Nowaki Logic', he felt it was one of those many opportunities he looked for during the course of the day to profess his feelings to Hiroki, especially with how close they were and how utterly relaxed and content the older man seemed to be. Plus, even if they weren't bathing together at the moment, he was certain he would've said the same thing anyway, at any time, because he loved to say the words, and loved to tell the professor his feelings everyday so that Hiroki could never forget nor be insecure about it.

This honest confession of affection from Nowaki caused Hiroki to tilt his head back and gaze into the other mans face. Which he stared at intently for many long moments before raising one arm up and back to grasp onto his loves shoulder as his pulled Nowaki down to him, bringing their lips together in a sweet but passionate kiss. A kiss that lasted for a few moments that felt more like days to the pair before Hiroki pulled back and breathed a simple. "I love you too." The unmistakable emotion of love shining in the depths of his eyes.

Eyes just a little wide at first, Nowaki easily fell into the ecstasy that was this love they shared, feeling his heart beat just a little faster whenever Hiroki was the one to instigate intimacy between them. When they parted, although the doctor could've easily let the moment last forever, Nowaki was smiling in a way rather common to him in regards to his lover, leaning down again merely to kiss some suds away from Hiroki's eyes. "That's all I could ever hope for, because those words, from Hiro-san, make up my entire world," he whispered as he pulled back, washing away the shampoo in Hiroki's hair.

"You sentimental dork." Hiroki said his voice serious but his face wearing a soft expression of true love and admiration for the man before him. He said little else after that, just the usual complaining until they finished bathing and the typical 'Nowaki….I'm cold…."excuse to get the other man to embrace him as they settled for sleep. And though he said very little aloud his mind was a symphony of sound with all of his thoughts, of the past, the present and the possible future. But more than anything, one thought stood out, and it was that in this moment, with Nowaki by his side, he was the happiest he had could ever remember being in his life and he wouldn't trade it for the world.


End file.
